Barrágan, Luis( 1902 – 1988 )
Lomas Verdes, Mexico City, 1964 – 1973 , color marker, Barragán Foundation/ARSWinner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize in architecture ( 1980 ), Luis Barrágan is known for his bold
use of color in the design of Mexican regionalism with Mediterranean flavor. He was particularly
adept with the integration of landscape and architecture that responded to the environment of his
native Mexico (Van Vynckt, 1993 ).
Born in Guadalajara, he received an engineering diploma with some experience in architectural
studies. Aware of the modernist initiatives surfacing in Europe, he traveled to Paris to attend lectures
by Le Corbusier. His year in Paris was part of a lifetime of travels, especially to Europe (the
Mediterranean coast) and North Africa. The simple forms he observed in North Africa influenced
his use of clean shapes constructed in concrete. He built small projects between 1927 and 1936 before
starting speculative housing projects in 1936. Founder and director of the Jardines del Pedregal de
San Angel, Mexico City ( 1945 – 1952 ), Barrágan opened private practice with Raul Ferrera ( Júlbez,
Palomar and Eguiarte, 1996 ; Smith, 1967 ).
After the early 1940s, his projects were concerned with a blend of vernacular and international
styles. He designed several churches such as the Convent of the Capuchinas Sacramentarias
( 1952 – 1955 ), but the buildings most representative of his work were the San Cristobal Stable and the
Egerstrom House completed in 1967. This building complex makes use of his skill in landscape
design and of massive walls of color. The large flat planes, in a shade of bright pink, have been con-
trasted by geometric fountains and pools.
Barrágan often sketched using color media. Many of his sketches are bold and abstract, where
he employs a blunt lead for a heavy line or chooses media that will give him bright colors. Some of
these sketches appear surprisingly minimal, using the fewest lines possible. This sketch (Figure 7. 14 )
represents a study for the Lomas Verdes Project. Beginning approximately 1965 , Barrágan and Sordo
Madaleno collaborated on various dwelling types and monumental entrances for the subdivision
Lomas Verdes. In the early 1970 s, streets were laid out and building sites were sold, although in the
end little infrastructure was actually constructed (Zanco, 2001 ). Barrágan and Madaleno had planned
for extensive gardens and landscaping, which has been reflected in this sketch.
The sketch exhibits bold vertical lines, accented by equally bold wavy ones. Sketched with a felt
tipped pen, the image has been rendered in bright colors – blue for the sky, red and orange for the
buildings, yellow and brown for the hillside in the foreground, and green abstractions to represent
trees. The streaky lines have been drawn quickly, evidenced by the transparency and very straight
strokes of the felt marker. The white showing through behind the color reveals how the ink skipped
across the paper. This is unlike the dense saturation of color that happens when the marker rests on
the surface. The buildings were drawn first and the sky later, giving the image background and con-
text. The buildings have been set atop a mound, making them seem as though they have grown out
of the hills. Each structure has been given a few strokes of the marker for windows. Without these
indications of openings, the shards of buildings could have been interpreted as sheer-faced rock.
Interestingly, the buildings have been treated very similarly to the background of the sky. This could
be a factor of the medium’s properties or an intentional tactic to avoid differentiation between build-
ing and landscape. Barrágan’s architecture, although rectangular and regular, had a unique ability to
appear integrated into the landscape. Considering the use of bold color in his architecture, it is fitting
that the sketched with bright colors.H5719-Ch07.qxd 7/15/05 3:48 PM Page 195